Once Upon a Starlit Sky
by Taylor1
Summary: Pregame YAOI Shonen-ai SxC Once upon a starlit sky a small loney boy caught sight of perfection. As time went on the small boy grew up and again he saw that perfetion and fell in love with it, but is he strong enough to destroy it when he must?


Thanks to dina and dragon soul for betaing!  
  
Dedicated to Spectra!!!  
  
This was kind of rushed, sorry! My angst muse thought that it was time to plague my mind with depressing thoughts, so this is the product. Also Zack's age got truncated by me, so he's basically the same age as Cloud.  
  
Disclaimer: FFVII belongs to Squaresoft, and the boys belong to Tetsuya Nomura. I don't own them, I only pretend to sometimes.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The passionate red, the joyful orange, the envying yellow.  They swirled, mixed, and spilled over the still slumbering Midgar, slowly dissolving the diamonds upon the dark velvet.  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry!  Excuse me!"  A petite blond rushed through crowded halls of the ShinRa military compound.  "Zack!  Wait up!  I can't run as fast as you can."  / My drill sergeant is going to kill me for being late again!  Gotta hurry! /  Oblivious that he was on collision course with a tall green eyed man, the petit blond concentrated on catching up with his ebony haired friend.  The small blond ran right into the strong, well-defined chest of the tall man.  The impact of the crash sent the small blond on his back, sliding a few feet backwards.  Recovering quickly Cloud sought to gather his spilled books while muttering an apology.   
  
  
  
"I'm so sorry, sir.  I should've been watching where I was..."  The small blond trailed off his original thought as he caught a glimpse of silver hair.   
  
  
  
/Ohmygodohmygodmygodmygodmygodit'sthegeneralsefphiroththegeneralsephiroth/   
  
  
  
Cloud scrambled to get up, but instead tripped on his own feet.  The  
  
blue-eyed boy expected to land face first onto the hard unfeeling floor, but instead fell into a pair of strong warm arms.  Shifting his gaze up, Cloud's large wide blue eyes meet an endless sea of ever-changing aquamarine.  Eternities seem to pass, as sapphire lost itself in waves of liquid emerald.   
  
  
  
/ How beautiful! It's sinful just to be able to witness it. /   
  
  
  
"Cloud!"  The loud greeting ripped the blond away from the beautiful gaze and back into the harsh reality.  He moved away from the warm arms, and muttered with his eyes cast down.   
  
  
  
"Thank you sir.  I better go.  I'm sorry about crashing  
  
into you, sir."  With that the petite blond ran towards his longhaired  
  
friend who was waiting for him at the end of the hallway.   
  
  
  
"Wait!  What's your name cadet?"  A smooth commanding voice called out.   
  
  
  
Whipping around, Cloud answered nervously, "Strife, Cloud Strife, sir."  
  
  
  
The slender blonde trailed after his ebony haired friend, while a light  
  
smile graced his androgynous face.  Cloud let his sparkling blue eyes drift close, as he felt waves of contentment assault his senses.   
  
  
  
//He touched me.  He actually touched me.//   
  
  
  
The two made it to their class without anymore interruptions, and their day went on as usual  
  
  
  
A gentle touch on his shoulders jerked the dazed blond out of his blissful trance.  "You finally met him, Cloud.  So what does it feel like?"   
  
  
  
"Huh?"  
  
  
  
"Sephiroth.  Isn't that who you're thinking about?"  Zack couldn't help but grin at the confused expression on his friend's face.  Cloud smiled gently at his kneeling friend, and snuggled deeper into his warm bunk.   
  
  
  
"Like a dream that I never deserved."  The sweet slowly transformed itself into wistful and forlorn expression.  "Good night Zack."  
  
  
  
"You deserve everything in the world, Blondie.  Good night, and sweet  
  
dreams." Zack whispered, sensing that it was an unwelcome subject, and  
  
ruffled the soft blond spikes affectionately.  With that the fit youth  
  
climbed into his own bed, directly above the petite blond.  
  
  
  
"Not him."  It was enough, his one meeting with perfection.  He cherished every memory of the General, deep in his heart, never forgetting, never ending, never fading.  As he fell into Hypnos's powerful spell, he dreamed of a starlit sky in the town of Nibleheim, where he first caught his glimpse of perfection, and his enchanting smile. As time went on the blond continued to devote his unconditional love from afar, continued to his memories from afar.  Yet fate is cruel, it did not even allow small blond that small amount of pleasure.  It had planned an exquisite and miserable end for both.  
  
  
  
The biting, freezing wind of the Northern Crater howled mercilessly at the two figures, poised to fight till death.  Tears flowed down smooth ivory cheek of a flaxen haired young man.  Though time has been kind to the blond, his sapphire blue eyes spoke of pain that was beyond his years.   
  
  
  
"Shall we?"  A smooth cultured voice called out to the slight blond, while unsheathing his chosen weapon.  
  
  
  
"Yes."  Cloud replied grimly, angry with himself because his inability to cease the tears that continued to traverse down his face.  He slowly wrapped his slender fingers around the handle of his beloved weapon, feeling the protest of his over used muscles as he raised the massive sword.  "But why?"  
  
  
  
"Why?"   
  
  
  
"Why are you doing this?  You were loved and respected  
  
by all.  You had all.  Why this?"  Cloud asked, his body trembling from  
  
the intense emotions.   
  
  
  
"Because this is my destiny!  This is Mother's wishes!  I must become the God of this unworthy planet."  A deep sardonic laughter echoes through the crater.  "I was never loved by anyone!  And don't deny it!  Those faceless selfish rodents cared for no one but themselves. Always seeking something from me, never offered any true affections.  I  
  
was nothing!"   
  
  
  
Unable to control his emotions, Cloud raised his mako blue eyes to look straight into emerald green.  "I loved you.  And I still do." It was a light whisper, so light it was easily lost in the vicious howls of the wind, but it was not lost to the former Soldier.    
  
  
  
Taking a few steps forward, Sephiroth shouted at Cloud.  "You don't love me!  You can't love me!  I am but a monster!"  
  
  
  
"You are perfection to me, you always have been, you always are, and you always will be."  
  
  
  
"It's useless.  Your words are useless!"  The former General smiled sadly, and slipped into a battle stance.  
  
  
  
The loud clangs that were emitted from the impact of the two swords clashing were the only sound that could be heard.  Even the howling wind shied away from a fight of this intensity.  The sickening sound of metal piercing flesh was heard, as the sliver-haired warrior fell to his knees.  Cloud rushed to catch the fallen General, and cradled his body gently to his chest.  "Strife, Cloud Strife.  Is it not?"   
  
Sephiroth managed to croak.   
  
"Yes, you remembered."  Tears continued to flow from Cloud's wide blue eyes.  "Shhh, don't talk."  
  
"You want to know something funny?  That first time when our eyes met, I knew that you were the one.  The one to free me."  Sephiroth coughed and chocked on scarlet blood.  
  
"Don't talk damn it!"  Cloud casted another cure but it seemed to have no effect.  
  
  
  
"Don't waste your energy, there's no way you can save me now.  Answer me this one question.  If everything was different, would you still have loved me?"  
  
"Yes, I will."    
  
"Find me in another eternity?"  
  
"I will.  I promise."  Emerald orbs drifted close, as the body that Cloud cradled lost all of it's warmth. Placing a kiss on the lifeless lips of his beloved, the blond picked up his discarded weapon and drove it through his body.  "Another eternity.  I will find you."  Once upon a starlit sky two young men finally found their peace in each other's arms. 


End file.
